I’m glad to have had the opportunity to work through this exercise and to think about ways to get students to exchange their work in our unit/discussion of the writing process. In my presentation post (is it typical to really hate one’s voice in a computer recording?), I focused on prewriting (where, I tell students, the real essaying–using writing as a tool for discovery–occurs). The brief presentation is not in connection with any one assignment (I hope that’s ok as it veers a bit from the instruction for this week); rather it is part of a longer discussion early in the semester about the writing process and applies to all assignments generally.
In my onsite classes, I often ask students to exchange work that they have written in class (brainstorming upcoming writing assignments, e.g.), and I will work at nailing down similar exercises in an online class. I’m not sure if I want students to work synchronistically on that sort of assignment, so I may use Collaboration. Having stated that (about synchronicity), Chat can also work, but I don’t want students to feel pressured into a time/punctuality constraint for a low-stakes activity.
Re: my synchronous exchanges with students, yes yes yes. I will use chat to conference short writing assignments. Syrnyk uses the phrase “embodied presence through texts,” and though I’m not certain we need a face-to-face exchange with students to recognize this presence, it’s useful to contemplate if Syrnyk’s concept is a bit lofty. I frequently use the term “presence” in my written comments: “strong voice and presence here,” “a bit more commentary can strengthen voice and presence.” I have not felt a need to address “presence” in that same context in any other manner. I acknowledge that my use of the term may slightly differ from Syrnyk’s. I will work at acknowledging that “embodied presence” via chat or even some version of video chat (skype? Sounds kinda awful), but it seems that meeting at an arranged time on the student’s Google Doc may be perfectly suitable for the objective.
Here is my presentation: